Max Verstappen says he is "really excited" for the Italian GP despite a back-of-the-grid start, with the Dutchman ready to showcase his overtaking skills.
After the disappointment of a first-lap DNF in Belgium, Verstappen heads to Monza with a new Spec 4 Honda engine and, like Red Bull team-mate Alex Albon and Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat last weekend, is set to start from the back row of the grid because of it, along with Pierre Gasly.
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But Verstappen is embracing the challenge, particularly as it's a race he didn't expect to have a chance of winning due to Ferrari and Mercedes' power advantage at F1's fastest track.
"I'm actually really excited," he told Sky Sports. "Of course we have to start from the back and do some overtaking, but in general when you look at it I think this track is going to be a struggle for us because of the straight-line speed Ferrari has, and Mercedes of course is more powerful on the straights than us.
"I think realistically, maybe you can fight Mercedes if you start up there but it's still going to be hard. So why not take a penalty, start from the back and try and come through to fifth. Maybe a bit of rain on Sunday would be nice."
There's a threat of showers throughout the weekend and Verstappen, a star F1 2019 performer who is third in the championship, admitted that a wet race would make Red Bull "more competitive".
The 21-year-old doesn't, however, believe he will be in the hunt for the podium.
"You can overtake," Verstappen told reporters. "The problem is we are not that competitive compared to Ferrari or Mercedes.
"There are other tracks where I started at the back and finished on the podium because we had really good pace and we could do a different strategy with tyres.
"I think around here, I don't expect to go for a podium but if we can get back to fifth, let's say in a normal race without any incidents, I think that's a good result for us."
Verstappen has started 16th or lower on the grid five times in his Red Bull career and has secured two podiums from those races, with a best finish of second from 18th at last year's United States GP.
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